TORONTO — Thousands of former and current CBC employees are at risk of having their information such as social insurance numbers, employee and tax records compromised, due to a security breach reported by the CBC on Wednesday.

The CBC, RCMP and a municipal police force are investigating the recent break-in, CBC spokesman Douglas Chow said. The break-in led to the theft of some computer equipment with files that may contain social insurance information, account numbers and year-end tax slip details of 20,008 former and current employees, he said.

“We understand how concerning this is, and we sincerely regret that this incident has occurred,” Chow said in a statement.

This has left thousands unsure if they are at risk of identity theft, which can lead unauthorized financial transactions in their names, such as bank account openings, expensive purchases and more. Chow would not disclose where the breach took place.

Those compromised could be anyone who has worked at the CBC in the last year and a half, including current employees, those on extended leave, outside contractors and some former employees. The company has about 7,500 employees.

“We don’t want to hamper the investigation, so that’s why law enforcement has cautioned us not to disclose any further details at this time,” Chow said.

“(There is) no indication that the information has been accessed,” Chow added. “That’s a key thing that we’d like to share.”

The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) said in an emailed statement that they are closely monitoring the situation and that this is a concern for its members.

We don’t want to hamper the investigation so that’s why law enforcement has cautioned us not to disclose any further details at this time

“When CMG and our fellow CBC unions were notified of the situation, we pressed the Corporation to inform us about what they knew and what steps they are taking to address the issues involved,” president of the CBC branch, Jonathan Spence, wrote. “It is important that the Corporation’s efforts are thorough and effective.”

Chow told the Post that the CBC’s other unions have also been notified, as well as the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Spence added that the CMG encourages its members to contact them for questions and concerns, as well as to use the venues offered by the CBC.

The company has sent letters to those potentially affected, set up a response line for questions and is consulting their consumer credit agency, Equifax, to minimize the risk for those whose information is in jeopardy, offering a free year of credit monitoring and identity theft insurance.

The statement clarified that Canadians receiving their services are not affected in any way.

“We take this very seriously and we are making sure such a situation does not happen again,” Chow added.